“It’s about giving them hope.” DC Everest’s Journey Towards Implementing Best Practices in Grading and Assessment

“Those who implement changes in assessment, grading, and

professional practices and policies risk not only confrontation, but

also unpopularity, social isolation, public humiliation, and ultimately

their livelihoods.”

~Dr. Douglas Reeves

Introduction•Why “giving them hope”?

• This presentation is simultaneously about teacher leadership and making the essential shift from teaching to learning

Key Questions for Today•With SO MUCH going on in education, what was compelling about a conversation about grading? How did the conversation begin?•What was our timeline and what helpful resources/examples/artifacts might assist in your journey?•What are the results? What has changed for students and their learning?

Electronic Version of Our Presentation

• http://dcegrading.weebly.com/

• Our most recently updated presentation and other handouts/resources can be accessed electronically by participants via the above link.

Local Issues

Public School Competition

New StateAccountabilitySystem

Political Polarization

Shifting Demographics

Act 10Changes

EducatorEffectiveness

“NAEPizing”the WKCE

RtI

Smarter, BalancedAssessmentSystem

New SIS

Common Core

Leadership Context: Coherence

Coherence at the Local Level: DCE Levers• Changing demographics• Superintendent/Board goals about “all students”• Continued emphasis on use of UbD and “40-year” learning• Elementary math curriculum change• Board/leadership collaborative discussions about challenges in front

of students and teachers• Literacy focus across all content areas• Strong PLC focus on common assessment and curriculum revision• M.S. grouping pilot and related professional development(Wormeli)• RtI mindset regarding increasing our support and simultaneously

raising our expectations• Enter CCSS: curriculum and assessment, expectations, intervention

conversations continue to evolve• Grading: the high-visibility statement about what we value in learning that connects curriculum, instruction and assessment

Teacher leaders, leading change… “It’s ALL about learning!”

FROM:Teach, Test…Move

OnTO:Teach, Test…NOW WHAT?

Research Base• Reeves/Guske (assessment and grading)• DuFour (PLCs)• Hattie (meaningful impact…feedback)

Your student’s semester performances are listed below. What is this student’s final grade?

Reality Base: 10,000 Teachers Can’t Be Wrong! (Reeves)

1. C2. C3. MA

(missing assignment)

4. D5. C

6. B7. MA8. MA9. B10.A

Teacher Leaders: Leading Change

“Much of what teachers do is because that is the way it was done to them; this is no longer good enough. It is my hope that this book will lead teachers to examine critically their grading practices. Some of the ideas in this book challenge long-held beliefs and practices and create considerable cognitive dissonance.”

“Much of what teachers do is because that is the way it was done to them; this is no longer good enough. It is my hope that this book will lead teachers to examine critically their grading practices. Some of the ideas in this book challenge long-held beliefs and practices and create considerable cognitive dissonance.”

Education?

It's not just gardens that need to be tended...

Everything in education, from● Attitudes● Buildings● Curricula● …● Zeitgeist

Must. Be. Tended.

“G”“G” for Grade

Small acts of

leadership compound

Infect the supercarrier

s

Bridge more than bond

Trust in trust

Elementary Beginnings• Prior to 2007, K-5 math report card

focused on math facts, accuracy, and work completion• Teachers struggled to make report card

descriptors fit with our Everyday Mathematics program• Most importantly, the report card failed to

inform students or parents what students knew and understood about math

Teachers Asked Themselves...What Was the Purpose of a Grade?• Informed students of their skills,

knowledge; aids them in goal setting• Informed parents of his/her child’s

performance level• Gave teachers an opportunity to reflect on

their teaching in regard to their students’ learning

Getting Everyone on Board• Fall of 2006: Elementary grade level leaders

led inservice on reporting math grades• All grade levels submitted ideas which

followed a similar theme using EDM math strands• Grade level leaders presented grade level

ideas to principals and adminstrative teams for approval

Parent Buy-In• Parents positive comments about the

information included in new standards-based report card for math resulted in rewriting all areas of the elementary report card to reflect more detail in all subject areas.• Report card grading belief document

developed• New elementary RC was written by

committee of K-5 teachers over the summer

Grading Belief Statements Adapted to DCE K-12, February 2010

• We believe that report cards should be a reflection of a student’s knowledge and skills based on assessment of grade level expectations and ideally criterion referenced.

• We believe the evaluating and reporting of students’ proficiencies should be consistent by grade level or department throughout the district.

• We believe proficiency reports should indicate students’ level of performance on key curricular concepts for the current grading period.

• We believe proficiency reports should be a communication tool between teachers, students, and parents, be conducive to teacher input and provide ease of parent interpretation.

• We believe assessment must be based on standards and key course objectives. Multiple measures of assessment must be used which can include performance based assessments and daily observations.

• We believe homework should reflect current learning objectives and be at most, a minimal part of the grade.

• We believe an effort grade should be separate from academic performance and reflect the student’s initiative, behavior, drive, and perseverance.

• We believe modifications and accommodations should be made for any student to allow optimal success in demonstrating knowledge of subject matter. These modifications and accommodations should be documented on the proficiency report.  

Turn and Talk• How close might these belief

statements be to your current thinking? • How about for your “most respected”

teachers?

From Elementary Beginnings to Secondary StepsDistrict Grading and Assessment Task Force• Developed our skills, knowledge, experiments, and experience:• Conferences: Tomlinson, Wormeli, Minnetonka, Marzano• Book Studies & Conversations: O’Connor, Hattie, Marzano• Teacher-Led Mini Inservices for each other and colleagues• Team, PLC, and Department Discussions • Sharing resources, examples, and attempts

• Gained strategies, resources, and confidence to not only support each other but also to connect with colleagues who may not have a similar mindset

Fostering Change• As more colleagues joined the conversation, we realized

we needed a more strategic and accessible method to “infect” our assessment culture

• Grassroots Development Process: What do teachers need most?• How can we bridge to other teacher leaders?• How to we support our colleagues to encourage best practices?•What can we do to reduce toxic practices?

• Synthesized and focused our goals• Touchstone: “We want to fairly and accurately communicate what students know and are able to do.”

5 Key Targets for Teacher Learning• Target Area #1—Prerequisites: Mindset,

Assumptions, Curriculum, Assessment

• Target Area #2—Practices to Reconsider: Practice Experiences, Late Work, Zeroes

• Target Area #3—From Percentages to Criterion- Referenced:

Assessment in Action• Target Area #4—The Gradebook: Organizing by

Learning• Target Area #5—Manageability: Practical

Strategies for Busy Teachers

Professional Development Day ProposalOur overarching goal is to cultivate an environment where learning is first and foremost. To make this a reality a certain mindset, and some concrete skills/tools, are necessary. Currently recognized best practices in grading encourage us to evolve our practices towards a standards-based approach. Professional development, time, and other support will be essential in making this transition successfully.• Bring in an outside resource as a keynote presenter • Include 11 breakout-sessions lead by DCE teacher leaders• Provide collaborative time for departments/teams• Identify and provide ongoing resources to support these efforts "after the day"

Professional Development Day

Link to our complete handout: https://

www.box.com/s/08k472gzcszifu0ukld6

Link to our resources:dcegrading.weebly.com

Keynote:Jeff

Erickson

11 Break-Out Sessions by 30 DCE Teachers

“We all are in this together.”

Bottom Up Meets Top Down

From “Grass Roots” to “Grass Fire”

Educating our Board

Teacher Leader Perspective: “What we need to grow”• Empowerment and encouraged

experimentation• Permission to pioneer, to make mistakes• Books, conferences, “mini-conferences” in-

house: timely and accessible• Connections with others looking to

change/grow• Time, time, time with these ideas, each

other

School Board Policy

Turn and Talk• Who are your teacher leaders? Your

bridge builders?

• What do they most need to flourish and how can this assist in advancing student learning beyond individual classrooms?

Positive Impacts on Students and School Culture• In a very challenging political and economic time we’ve made

huge, positive changes * (implementation data regarding toxic practices, spread of 4-point scale)

• Assessments more often measure achievement; grades are becoming more closely connected to achievement and are not a “well kept secret.” (RtI and CCSS essentials!)

• We have raised our expectations of students…and of ourselves. Failure is not an option and students are expecting/asking for/demanding practices that emphasizes learning. Conversations are about learning…it’s about “getting it”, not “when you get it”: training “learners, not workers.” *(re-assessment plans across secondary buildings, potentially, student perception)

• Teacher leaders: positioned to help us continue moving forward.

One 7th-Grade Student’s Perspective:Do you believe your teachers are more concerned about your grades or your learning?• “Your learning—they want you to know and be able to know things for the future.”

Do you believe your parents are more concerned about your grades or your learning?• “My grades—they want me to get good grades for college.”

Pitfalls…What We’d Do Differently• Time: 2.5 years to where we’re at, and

we’ve got a long way to go• Outdriving our headlights: rapid fire

spread beyond a core group and growing pains• Parent education* (discussion of how

quickly we moved and how this is a step we need to get taken care of)• Technology (discussion of current

limitations and how that causes frustrations)

One Parent’s Perspective:

Helpful Resources• http://dcegrading.weebly.com/• O’Connor’s How to Grade for Learning• Marzano’s Formative Assessment &

Standards-Based Grading• Popham’s Everything School Leaders Need

to Know About Assessment• Wormeli’s Fair Isn’t Always Equal• Hattie Visible Learning and Dweck Mindset• Model District to check-out: Minnetonka,

MN

Questions and Contact InformationBarbara Lawrence

3rd Grade Teacher, Rothschild Elementary, blawrence@dce.k12.wi.us

Leslie Jeffers 7th Grade English, DC Everest Middle, ljeffers@dce.k12.wi.us

Chad Brecke Technology Education, DC Everest Junior High, cbrecke@dce.k12.wi.us

Mike TeukeHigh School Science, DC Everest High School, mteuke@dce.k12.wi.us

Casey Nye Principal, DC Everest Middle, cnye@dce.k12.wi.us

Thank you!